Wynyard rider starring in world titles

WYNYARD rider Matthew Phillips has made an encouraging start to his first race in the senior ranks of the Maxxis FIM Enduro World Championships.

Competing in the Enduro 3 class, Phillips earned a podium finish in the opening round of the season in Solsona, Spain, finishing second overall behind local hero and teammate Ivan Cervantes for the weekend.

He was slightly off the pace in race two on Sunday, finishing third behind Cervantes and Finnish rider Matti Seistola.

The 22-year-old admitted on his Facebook page that errors had cost him valuable time on both days. ``Had a good start for the season, battled for the lead all day, but two mistakes meant I had to take second in the finish,'' he said after day one.

``On the podium again today, made some mistakes early in the race, fought back hard in the last three tests to take third. A good start to the championship,'' he posted after day two.

The results saw Phillips collect 32 points from the event and sit eight points off the lead in the championship.

Round two of the eight-round series will see competitors travel to Vale de Cambra in Portugal on April 12-13, with further stops in Greece, Finland, Sweden, Mexico, Italy and France.

Phillips is a rising star on the enduro scene after comfortably winning the junior world championship last year.